US stocks were broadly flat on Monday as President Joe Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy prepared to meet to resume debt-ceiling negotiations later in the day, amid warnings a disastrous default is less than two weeks away.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) edged up slightly above the flatline at the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was flat, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.15%.
Wall Street is bracing for crunch time in the debt-ceiling showdown, as the risk of a government default of some sort becomes more real. Anxiety is mounting, and Wall Street banks and asset managers are preparing for the fallout from a potential default, in case an extension or agreement fails to be hammered out in Washington.
After a weekend of near deadlock, Biden returned back to Washington Sunday, ending his trip to Asia short to resume talks. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated the US faces a June 1 “X-date” deadline for default.
In the Treasuries market, the yield on the two-year note rose to 4.3%, while that on the 10-year Treasury traded up to 3.69%. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, a voting member of the Federal Reserve, signaled he’s open to holding interest rates steady in June so the central bank can assess the impact of its outsized hikes on inflation.
Against the current uncertain backdrop, several Fed board members are on the speech circuit this week, and the minutes of the last policymakers’ meeting is set for release on Wednesday.
Also on Wall Street’s plate this week are earnings from retailers Dollar General (DG), Costco (COST), and BJ’s (BJ) which should give a deeper understanding of the health of the consumer.
In single stock moves, Micron Technology, Inc. (MU) shares sank about 4% after Beijing banned some Chinese tech manufacturers from using the US company’s chips. The move could further stoke existing tensions with the US over technology and security.
Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) moved higher after the Facebook owner was hit by a record €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) European Union privacy fine and given a deadline to stop sending European users’ data to the US.
Shares in Adani Enterprises (ADANIENT.NS), the flagship company of Adani Group, jumped more than 18% after a committee appointed by India’s top court cleared the conglomerate of any regulatory failure, as alleged by US short seller Hindenburg Research.
NVIDIA (NVDA) shares dipped over 1% after the chipmaker said on Monday it has worked with the UK’s University of Bristol to build a new supercomputer using a new Nvidia processor. The move gives the world’s top maker of AI-focused graphics processing units (GPUs) its own central processing unit (CPU), a market dominated by Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
Shares of PacWest Bancorp (PACW) climbed more 8% Monday morning after the regional lender said on Monday it had agreed to sell a portfolio of 74 real estate construction loans, posing fresh risk to the regional banking sector.
Still, on the banking front, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) boosted it outlook a month after the government-brokered takeover of First Republic. President Daniel Pinto said during investor day “We cannot ignore that there are plenty of challenges.” But “the US economy at the moment is doing fine,” he adds, though the bank sees “signs of deterioration.” Shares rose more 1% Monday following the announcement.
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Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv
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